Cayman: Premier and Minister of Agriculture attend Jamaica Agriculture Show

From Cayman Islands Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture & Lands

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands (6 August 2019) – The Minister of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands, Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, JP, in the company and support of the Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin, MBE, JP are on an official visit in Clarendon, Jamaica to attend the 67^th Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show (Denbigh). The three-day show is the largest of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean. Produced by the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Denbigh celebrates achievements in Jamaican agriculture and its related sectors and provides curated platforms of knowledge sharing. It is an important item of the Ministry of Agriculture’s annual agenda.

“Jamaica has one of the most diversified and strongest agriculture sectors in the Caribbean particularly with respect to livestock,” said Mr. McLaughlin. “This visit gives us an opportunity to observe first-hand and learn from Jamaica’s technical expertise in agriculture. I also look forward to continuing the conversation with the Prime Minister during his visit a few weeks ago with regard to increasing trade between our two countries. This is important as we continue to not only expand our own locally grown agriculture products, but also seek other sources to help diversify Cayman’s access to food supplies.”  

While in Jamaica, in addition to attending Denbigh, the Premier and Minister will meet with the Most Honorable Prime Minister Andrew Holness and other Jamaica Government ministers on a variety of topics including trade and border security.

Speaker of the House, the Honourable McKeeva Bush, along with staff and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture (MEYSAL), Ministry of International Trade (MIT), Ministry of Commerce (MC), Department of Agriculture (DoA) and the Cayman Islands Agriculture Society (CIAS), are also with the Premier and Minister. The visiting delegation will have a full agenda including looking at Jamaican farming systems such as plant hydroponics and livestock farming, and how their agriculture practice and farming activities meet international environmental and food safety standards. 

“It is important to note that our agriculture sector is perpetually evolving.  We must continue to be active and intentional in our strategies towards implementing agricultural best practices and understanding how it plays a crucial role in the life of our economic system.  Directly exposing our very own subject-area experts to the various systems and programmes, whether strategic, traditional or technological in nature, allows for us to make tangible advancements, ultimately towards making the lives of our people better. The CIAS can model the dynamic signature activations to further enhance our own local agricultural shows and DoA staff can gain first-hand experiences of systems that can be scaled for our topography and of course, climatic  challenges. We must plan for a better tomorrow, today,” commented Minister O’Connor-Connolly.

Photo captions

Photo 1: Minister O’Connor-Connolly attends the official opening ceremony and show demonstration by major event sponsor HiPro  (Left to right) Dr. Fenton Ferguson, Opposition Spokesperson on Agriculture, Jamaica; Mr. Lenworth Fulton – President, JAS/Chairman, Denbigh Show Committee Hon. Audley Shaw, CD, MP – Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture & Fisheries, Jamaica; Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and HiPro company executives.           

Photo 2: The Premier connects with the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Hon. Andrew Holness, prior to the opening the ceremony of the “Prime Minister’s Day”.

Photo 3: Speaker of the House, Hon. Mckeeva Bush and Minister O’Connor Connolly along with Cayman officials were special guests of the Prime Minister’s opening ceremony.

Photo 3a: Speaker of the House, Hon. Mckeeva Bush with Cayman officials were special guests of the Prime Minister’s opening ceremony.

Photo 4: Staff of the Department of Agriculture and Ministry of Agriculture along with members of the Cayman Islands Agriculture Society pose with their tour guide at the Abbey Garden Farm.